Thursday, May 14, 2020

Mormon the Valiant and Unique Prophet – Part I

Different
from the Book of Mormon has a whole, the last part of the Book of
Alma—containing more than one-tenth of the overall work—contains fewer examples
of what we usually think of as “scriptural” material﻿—basically, no sermons,
visions, and little prophesying. It includes very little discussion of
theological principles, and initially seems to be one long, detailed record of
wars that destroyed thousands of lives during battles that raged back and forth
through numerous cities and lands. In
this part of the record, Mormon writes about kings and captains with the same
purpose and interest as he gives to prophets and teachers elsewhere. He also
covers treachery and bloodshed in the same accuracy and important manner he
earlier covered preaching and miracles. In
this section of the overall work, Mormon uses Nephite history to teach us
powerful religious lessons, such as the value of liberty and freedom, God’s
role in preserving it, the moral justifications for waging war to uphold
freedom, and the moral limitations on bloodshed, even for freedom’s sake. To
better understand this description of freedom, the reader must understand
Mormon, himself.

Mormon
carried to the Land of Zarahemla by his father when Mormon was 11 years old

First
of all, we do not know where Mormon was born, though we do know that he was in
the Land Northward as a child until the age of eleven when his father brought
him to the Land of Zarahemlam (Mormon 1:6). During this trip he saw, likely for
the first time, the extensive spread of the population across the land and the
vast numbers of buildings constructed (Mormon 1:7). However, we not only know
that Mormon’s father was also called Mormon (Mormon 1:5), but that the name
Mormon was given to the land on the borders of the Land of Nephi Thus,
it might be that Mormon was named for the land when he was born in the Land
Southward, which name he passed on to his son, the Mormon who eventually
abridged the Plates upon which so many prophets had engraven. If this was the
case, then we might also assume that for some reasons the elder Mormon traveled
to the Land Northward to settle or live. This, then places him in that land
when Mormon the prophet was born and grew up until taken to the Land of
Zarahemla as a child. During
his growing years in that land, Mormon must have been a special child, and no
doubt a very spiritual child, for when he was ten year sold, the Prophet
Ammaron came to him and gave him a charge regarding the sacred records
(Mormon1:2-4). And later, at age 15, Mormon was visited by an angel (Mormon
1:15), and began to preach among the people (Mormon 1:16). The
question that should be asked, but seldom is, would be: “Why was a 15-year-old
put in charge of the Nephite armies?” (Mormon 2:1).

It
should be noted here that the word “Armies” means all of the Nephite military
forces, not just a small number. Earlier in Nephite history, Moroni was placed
in charge of the all the Nephite armies at the age of twenty-five (Alma 43:16).
At the time he was considered very young as is shown by the term “he was only twenty
and five years old when he was appointed chief captain over the armies of the
Nephites” (Alma 43:17). One can only wonder at being
appointed to such an important post at the age of 15. In fact, before his 16th
birthday, he went “at the head of an army of the Nephites, against the
Lamanites; therefore three hundred and twenty and six years had passed away”
(Mormon 2:2). One possibility is that Mormon’s
father was an important Captain in the army and had been called back to the
Land of Zarahemla because of the pending war with the Lamanites. It is also
possible that since the father is not mentioned again by Mormon because he was
killed in battle, that the son was appointed. If so, this might be the reason
Mormon’s son was thought of so highly as to be appointed leader over the
armies. In any event, while why Mormon was
appointed leader over the Nephite armies at the age of 15 is not known, the
event took place and the reason behind it must have been significant. It
should be noted that from the time of being a child to developing into an
adult, Mormon, from the time he was fifteen, had been involved in military
matters. Consequently, he was prepared as few Nephites were to appreciate the exemplary
skill of Moroni’s earlier generalship. Righteous himself, Mormon also must have
responded deeply to Moroni’s own righteousness. Through the ancient record, he
followed Moroni’s example of rigorous, self-sacrificing service both to
preserve his people’s liberty by combat and also, by teaching and example, to
help make his people worthy of God’s help.

From
this we can see why Mormon, while abridging the record, or at least having read
it and connecting the earlier Moroni to great deeds and valor, it was probably
the reason Mormon named his son Moroni, after that earlier great leader of the
Nephites. And
Mormon, like that earlier great leader, he was never identified by the title
“general” in the Book of Mormon; nevertheless, both were commanders over the
Nephite armies﻿—chief captains over chief captains﻿—and had the authority of
what we would today call the rank of general. The
great spiritual giant, Mormon, is seen in the example of when his army was set
upon breaking the commands of the Lord, Mormon removed himself from leadership
in the armies, and observed their great wickedness. Yet,
as the Lamanites continued to prevail in the war, Mormon relented. “And it
came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath
which I had made that I would no more assist them; and they gave me command
again of their armies, for they looked upon me as though I could deliver them
from their afflictions (Mormon 3:11).
Yet,
in spite of the wickedness of the people Mormon “led them many times to
battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with
all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day
long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of
their hearts (Mormon 3:12). In addition, the strength of this
great prophet is shown in the fact that he refused to let the long, desperate fighting lead him to
bloodthirstiness; instead, as the Lord directed him, he resigned his command to
stand by “as an idle witness” when their wickedness led them to fight in a
spirit of vengeance. Again, this tells us much why Mormon named his own son
Moroni. In
short, our key to understanding those last twenty-one chapters of Alma lies in
Mormon’s assessment of Moroni, man and military leader. That assessment is a
valuable one for all of us, who, like Mormon, look for models to guide our
lives through the conflicts of the present world.(See
the next post, “Mormon the Valiant and Unique Prophet – Part II,” for further
insight into Mormon’s view of Moroni and how the ancient had an effect on
Mormon’s life).